The Power of Speaking Up: Why it’s Important to be Critical, Vocal And Involved in The Political Process

The late Madame Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago told the youth, “Be critical, vocal and involved in the political process. We are a democratic country and it’s our duty to keep our government in check.

And this is what’s happening in the Philippines right now. With a twitter hashtag trending number 1 worldwide in April 02, 2020, all of a sudden, Millennial and Gen Z Filipinos have proven to the world what a power of speaking up can do. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” And with less than 280 characters for each tweet, that only tells us that the human voice is the most perfect instrument of all.

Gen X folks and even Baby Boomers are often enraged by how the youth is currently acting towards the Philippine Government. They always refer the youth online as “woke” because they think the youth of today are pretty much know-it-alls. But what if that’s actually the case? Considering the fact that more member of the youth are receiving higher education and most of them have access to the internet which they can compare and contrast news and verify facts if they are legit or not.

It is indeed and it couldn’t be more true, that the children is the hope of our future. So why does some folks from the older generation never choose to believe our children? That, I don’t know much about their personal reasons. But one thing’s for sure, MDS is a believer of the youth. “Nothing matters more to the future of this nation than to ensure that our young women and men learn to believe in themselves and in their dreams,” she said.


“You have a duty to challenge the status quo. Palagi mo i-challenge. Hindi lang tanggap ng tanggap, and create a better country for our people. Use your right to vote to change our country,” said Santiago. “You have immense influence over your family, friends and neighbors and tell them to make an intelligent choice.”

She also said not to allow the rich and powerful to be given special privileges.

“You have every right to be furious of all these corrupt politicians. Because after all it is our money that is being used to sustain their expensive lifestyles. Pera natin yung ginagamit nila para magkaroon sila ng napakaraming bahay, kotse, kerida.”


So this time, I think everyone should learn how to speak up. I believe that we all have standards, principles, and beliefs so don’t just shut up or stay silenced and watch your friends fight for what is right. This is your homeland, involve yourself. You recited “Panatang Makabayan” a million times before and every day, just like today, is a chance to be a makabayan.

Kids, as a citizen of this nation, we have duties to do. It is not a question if your color is red, blue or yellow anymore. Your color should be nothing but Filipino. All I want for you to remember is that your words have power. So use them wisely and also be vigilant.

I’ll end this blog with a question: How loud do we have to be to wake everyone up?


¡Viva Filipinas!

Comments

  1. luckysketch

    It’s really hard to read a thread on Twitter, I’m talking about the recent top trend yesterday, esp. if your own beliefs would be in question. I’ve once experienced a no resolution fight on twitter but I ended giving up because there’s no way any one of us could win that argument. Yes, this is the future, the future where everyone has there own voice spread out. It’s an overwhelming feature that not everyone fully understood the importance of fair criticisms. It’s just a pain in the head. Moving forward….

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